NOVEMBER, 2015 ISSUE 5

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GLADSTONE HARBOUR REPORT CARD 2015 The 2015 Gladstone Harbour Report Card, due for release in December, will report on over 80 separate measures of the health of the harbour, covering all four components of harbour health: environmental, social, cultural and economic.

The environmental component alone will comprise of measures covering water quality, sediment quality, seagrass health, coral health and connectivity. This will provide a good balance between measures that respond rapidly to change such as the water quality measures, and measures that provide a more long-term indication of harbour health such as coral cover. Some of the new measures added for 2015 will also enable us to gauge the potential for the harbour to recover from any deterioration in health that may have occurred in the past.

The development of the 2015 report card will see a more complete suite of measures for environmental health, an increase from the six measures used in the 2014 Pilot Report Card. The social and economic components of harbour health will be based on the same measures that were used in the pilot report card so we will be able to compare the two. This will enable us to see what changes have occurred in the social and economic health of Gladstone Harbour over the past 12 months.

Another big change in the 2015 Report Card will be the inclusion of six measures of the Cultural health of Gladstone Harbour. These measures will show how important the harbour is to the regional culture, and include things like how much people value the harbour, and how much it contributes to what is special about living in the Gladstone region.

As GHHP accumulates additional data each year, we will be able to add measures to the report card so that we will gain a more complete picture of the health of Gladstone Harbour with each successive year.

Photos: A series of aerial photos were taken of the 13 GHHP Harbour Zones by local photographer Natalia Muszkat. L-R: Inner Harbour, Boyne Estuary and Outer Harbour.

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Included in the Gladstone Harbour Report Card 2015 is an assessment of the cultural health of the harbour. The sense of place indicator group has been determined through a community phone survey of 400 people from the Gladstone Local Government Area. Sense of place was measured by distinctiveness, continuity, self-esteem, self-efficacy, attitudes to the harbour and values of the harbour. The cultural heritage indicator group is still under development and will be included in future years. Photo: L-R Peter Brockhurst (GHHP Management Committee, Gidarjil Development Corporation) Scott Chisholm (Project Manager) and Anne Golden (Senior Archaeologist discussing the geographic scope of the project after they have visited local sites.

CULTURAL HEALTH IN 2015

In 2014 GHHP contracted Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) to produce the ‘Creek Watch: Caring for Gladstone’s Waterways’ program. The Creekwatch program successfully engages members of the Gladstone community in environmental activities that aim to contribute to the knowledge of the region’s water quality. To be involved in the citizen science Creekwatch program, contact GHHP on 1800 241 254 or email info@ghhp.org.au

GHHP CITIZEN SCIENCE

Gladstone Harbour: Barry & Jenny’s Expedition

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The Gladstone Healthy Harbour Partnership released the ‘Gladstone Harbour Barry & Jenny’s Expedition’ children’s storybook

at East Shores on Thursday September 17, 2015.

The storybook is an innovative method of educating children about how the health of Gladstone Harbour is monitored and

tested. The storybook includes the portrayal of iconic Gladstone sites through beautiful artwork, and also contains the

cleverly written message of the importance of harbour health. The book

represents the environmental, economic, social and cultural testing that

takes place in and around the harbour.

‘Gladstone Harbour Barry & Jenny’s Expedition’ has been produced

through the collaboration of local artist, Ping Carlyon and local writer,

Heidi Jones.

The Gladstone Healthy Harbour Partnership’s children’s book is being

distributed to local primary schools, libraries and day care centres

throughout the region, and also at special events attended by GHHP.

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CONTACT GHHP Phone 1800 241 254 Email info@ghhp.org.au Post PO Box 3465 Tannum Sands Q 4680 Web www.ghhp.org.au

GHHP Partners

WHAT’S ON

DECEMBER 2015 Release of the Gladstone Harbour Report Card 2015

JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2016 Shopping Centre Displays of Gladstone Harbour Report Card 2015 Community Information Sessions on the Gladstone Harbour Report Card 2015 WANT TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH GHHP ACTIVITIES...VISIT

www.ghhp.org.au

WHY AREN’T FISH AND CRABS INCLUDED IN 2015?

GHHP is unable to include fish and mud crab indicators in the 2015 Gladstone Harbour

Report Card as there is currently no available data.

One of GHHP’s guiding principles is to use existing data where available. Thus, GHHP

commissioned independent scientific experts Dr Bill Venables (former Principal Research

Scientist at CSIRO) to review existing data on fish recruitment, and Dr Ian Brown (former

Principal Fisheries Scientist for the Queensland Government) to review existing data on

commercial mud crab catch. Dr Venables report (available on the GHHP website) concluded

that the existing fish data collected by Infofish Australia were unsuitable for GHHP’s

purposes.

In response to this, GHHP is working with Infofish Australia to conduct targeted sampling to

collect fish recruitment data for the 2016 Report Card. Dr Brown’s report concluded that

the mud crab data reported to DAF by commercial fishers were unreliable.

This report will be made available on the GHHP website in the near future. In response to

this report, GHHP is investigating potential ways to collect reliable fisheries-independent

mud crab abundance data.

GHHP also plans to commence research into fish health in Gladstone Harbour, with the aim

of developing fish health indicators for future report cards.